Social Justice

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Global

ministries of education

followers on the Comics Uniting Nations Facebook page

views on digital platforms

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals have set the standard for the United Nations post-2015 development agenda. To achieve them, communities around the world must now be motivated to put them into practice.

Comics Uniting Nations is a partnership formed between four key agencies – PCI Media, UNICEF, The World’s Largest Lesson, and Reading with Pictures – to produce comics that share the lessons of the Sustainable Development Goals. Comic books draw in the wide-ranging audience necessary to make these goals a reality. Additional partnerships with well-known comic creators for each publication ensure that characters are recognizable. The comics are released with a Teacher’s Guide to facilitate classroom use. These comics have rapidly gained a profile within the comic book world.

Sexual Violence

Malawi

%

of students felt more comfortable talking about these topics

%

of students reported that they “learned something valuable”

%

of students felt that other students would benefit from this

UN Women estimates that 1 in 3 women globally still experiences physical or sexual violence; children of both genders are also vulnerable. In the USA, 1 in every 4 college women has been a victim of unwanted sexual conduct during her educational career. Between 70% and 92% of Liberian women have experienced sexual violence, while in Malawi, one in five girls and one in seven boys experience sexual abuse before the age of 18.

In the USA, we worked with UCLA students to develop a video series to shift sexual violence in the university. With Liberian hip hop stars, we built Let’s Speak Out – songs, performances and community visits by celebrities. Our whiteboard animation for UNICEF Malawi adapted national-level findings to support advocacy for the rights of women and children.

Gender-Based Violence

Latin America

implementing partners

participants in radio station-led community mobilization activities

listeners

Gender-based violence is a persistent threat in Latin America. A report by UN Women found that Latin American countries have a higher-than-average incidence of domestic violence, while 14 countries in the region – including Colombia and Bolivia – ranked within the top 25 for femicides globally.

Strong Women, Strong Voices was first implemented in 2011 in partnership with Diakonia. Coalitions in Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia produced and broadcast unique radio dramas to address critical issues of gender discrimination and domestic violence. The dramas and the coalition-building put the process of storytelling in the hands of women themselves to actively work to overcome these issues.

Human Trafficking

Bolivia

students

school community members

broadcasts

In Bolivia, human trafficking has risen 900% over the past nine years. The practice disproportionately affects youth from lower-middle-class families. La Caldera, a 21-episode radio drama, tells the gripping stories of three characters who have all been victims of human trafficking. First aired across Bolivia in 2013, it is now being used and promoted in classrooms in border cities. La Caldera increases awareness and action around commercial human trafficking and forced labor. It targets at-risk youth from lower-middle-class families. Inspired by the drama’s characters, listeners are more prepared to raise red flags when they see signs of human trafficking in their own contexts. The show has led to an increase in the reporting of incidents.

13% of students were less vulnerable to trafficking as a result of the program.